A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 17
The intruder was a little taller than Natsume himself and he was built like a runner or swimmer. He was lean and whip like, his arms and legs were corded with muscle, without looking bulky. He made Natsume think of a surfer without his board, wearing long printed shorts and a skin tight top. His wet hair was black, but when the light caught it, it looked blue. Natsume had noticed that on occasion Mikan's otherwise brown hair had a tendency to appear gold in the sun and her brown eyes could look green at times. The red had originally just thought it was a peculiarity to her, but perhaps it had more to do with her mixed heritage. As if her dragon side refused to accept ordinary human pigmentation.
The male had eyes that were the same sapphire color as his hide and there was a permanent sparkle of mischief in them. He also had the most ridiculous star tattoo of all things below one of them. Ugh, it makes him look like an idiot. He thought, refusing to accept that the thought was childish or had anything to do with the fact that this jerk was still touching Mikan. Anyone stupid enough to put a star on their face was just asking to be made fun of.
The worst part for Natsume –although he flat out refused to admit it- was the charm he seemed to exude. The mischief in his eyes combined with a face that was quick to move into a cheeky unrepentant grin, he had no doubt that face was able to lure and charm flocks of girls.
Natsume hated him on sight.
It might even be a personal record for him. In less than a week he had been intensely attracted to a woman on sight, and now he had found a person who he hated just as quickly. He was never a particularly sociable person to begin with. He had a rank and an image to uphold, which made him a fairly cold and gruff towards new people. He was more than capable of hating people. His uncle and grandfather were proof of that, but he had never actually hated a person on sight before.
Natsume was weighing the possible repercussions of introducing himself by setting fire to the guy's spiky hair when he watched Mikan elbow the guy in the ribs. That's my girl, he thought fondly, and hoped that she would follow up with a knee to the family jewels.
"Tsubasa you jerk! What if there had been humans around!" she yelled, pulling away from the jerk's arm so she could swat at him. It wasn't a knee to the groin, but… wait… Tsubasa? As in Tsubasa from the phone call? Just who in the hell was he to Mikan?
Mikan had said she was calling her family, but she did not actually specify what kind of family.
He better not be related in a mate or kissing-cousin kind of way he growled in his mind.
At this point the unwelcome stranger spoke and Natsume found himself hating the man more if it was possible. The annoying fish's natural charm and charisma increased when he was moving and speaking. He had that carefree 'devil may care' way about him that Natsume himself could never hope to come close to.
"Relax, I could smell the little torch bug from fifty miles out." The intruder told her with and easy smile and a casual wave of his hand in Natsume's direction.
Torch bug? Who did this stupid fish think he was calling torch bug? Oh he was so dead.
"Oi! Fish-breath, you are trespassing. Leave or I will make you leave." Natsume announced and produced a sizable fireball.
The stranger turned and gave Natsume a quick all encompassing look then promptly dismissed him as unimportant, annoying the red. "Chill, f-lamebrain, this does not concern you." Naturally, this succeeded in pissing Natsume off more. The red did not miss the way the jerk de-emphasized the 'f' sound in his insult, which was probably what the sea dragon was intending.
The soon-to-be-grilled-fish-dinner stranger then turned to Mikan, "Now come on Mikan, grab your stuff we are getting out of here." He ordered and tried steering her towards the water.
By then Natsume had figured that manners would be a total waste of time, and he launched the fireball at them. Of course, thanks to Mikan's strange ability, it disappeared before it hit, but it did manage to catch the jerk's attention. The stranger stopped dead and turned to give Natsume a warning look which was completely ineffective at warning the red to back off. Nice try fish-face, I've seen toddlers scarier than you.
"Listen sparky, I told you this doesn't concern you. If we ever need an oversized, walking, birthday candle, we'll call you. Come on Mikan, let's go." He said and went to grab Mikan's arm.
Birthday candle? Oh this loser was so dead. Natsume started walking towards them with another fireball hovering over his palm. "Back away from the girl and leave." He ordered. Now if only Mikan would just back away a bit more so Natsume's flames would work, then everything would be good.
Mikan gave Natsume a look "It is okay Natsume, I can handle this myself, this is mrrfffhha!" whatever Mikan was about to say was cut off because the intruder had slapped his hand over her mouth.
"He doesn't need to know who I am." The intruder stated.
Stop touching her! Natsume yelled in his mind. One would think it was the king touching her again with how angry he was. He was tempted to throw another useless fireball when his brother spoke to him in his mind.
'Be careful Natsume, he is up to something.'
Obviously. He is trying to take Mikan! He said, clouding his mental voice with his intense dislike of the newcomer. He felt rather than saw Luka roll his eyes at him.
'No stupid, I mean he is really up to something. He is baiting you. Koko is trying to read his mind, but Mikan's ability is interfering. He did get a quick impression that said he wanted you to come closer to him.'
That surprised Natsume. He could not possibly think to use the water against him. Mikan's nullifying or even Mikan herself would put a stop to that. Did he think he could win by attacking Natsume physically? That would be entertaining. The young red was a trained mercenary and assassin, and truthfully, after the thing with Mikan and the water and now this jerk, he would like nothing better than to beat on someone. How convenient that he had a perfect volunteer.
Ignoring the warning of the others he slowly strode through the shallows until he was almost toe to toe with his opponent. This time Natsume didn't try to light his fireball over his palm. Instead, he lit it right next to the jerk's head on side opposite of Mikan. The fire still went out quickly, but not before he head the telltale sizzle of his fire touching the other guy – Tsubasa's wet hair.
Well that really got his attention. Tsubasa let out a small yell because he must have felt the steam against his head. As Natsume had hoped, Tsubasa pushed Mikan far enough away to fight with either magic or fists. Natsume was happy with either one.
The young red chose to let the blue sea dragon pick the method of fighting by making the first move. Tsubasa moved forward and Natsume moved to a ready stance for hand-to-hand combat. The water would be a bit of a hindrance, but it was only up to his knees so he was fairly sure that he could accommodate.
And then something happened that Natsume never wanted to experience again.
His body completely froze on him. His limbs were stuck, locked into one position and would not move. He wanted to move. He tried to move. Puzzled and more than a little alarmed he lowered his eyes (because he couldn't move his neck or head) to look at his hands. He could see them, and feel them, but nothing he did could move them, and he was really straining to move them. Could water magic do this?
The blue Tsubasa gave him a smug look "Oh, not so bold and cocky now are we?" he mocked.
Natsume heard Mikan off to the side, but couldn't see her. "Tsubasa stop it." He could hear the warning in her tone.
Tsubasa ignored her warning and gave Natsume an appraising look. "Do you like to dance torch bug? I could teach you. Watch this" and the stranger lifted his right leg out of the water. Miraculously, Natsume's right leg also came out of the water. What the fuck? Luka, what the hell is he doing?
"You put your right leg in; you put your right leg out," and the guy moved his leg behind himself forcing Natsume to mimic his movements. "You put your right leg in,"
Luka! he yelled in his head at his brother. He was not going to allow himself to be humiliated by performing The Hokey Pokey in front of his subordinates.
'It's the shadow!' Luka yelled back quickly.
"and you shake it all about." Tsubasa sang and forced Natsume to wriggle his right leg in the air.
What?
'The shadow! Koko says he has control over you as long as he is on your shadow!' Natsume looked down and sure enough, his shadow was both on the water and through the water at his feet. Both were a distorted by the water but his opponent was in contact with them.
"You do The Hokey Pok-"
FOORRRRRRAAAAARRRRROOOOMMM!
To onlookers it looked like Natsume had exploded. A huge ball of fire burst out from him blasting them all with its heat and forcing his opponent back. The water at his legs instantly started bubbling and steaming. Between the steam and the flames, Natsume was completely hidden in the centre.
As quick as they started, the flames reduced to two fiery orbs suspended over the palm of each hand. His opponent gave him a surprised look, but quickly recovered and started swirling his hands in what Natsume now recognized as movements to control water. Before either one of them could start exchanging blows, Mikan ruined it all by walking in between them.
"Stop this you two." She ordered both of them, nullifying both of them in the process. You are both acting like children."
He started it. Natsume thought petulantly, and then realized how stupid that sounded.
Mikan gave Natsume an irritated look. "This is my uncle Tsubasa." She said to everyone, taking in the other air dragons watching nervously on the beach.
Uncle? That was one of her uncles? Natsume wondered then vaguely recalled that she had mentioned that the youngest of her grandparents' children was only a few years older than her. And crap, that meant the red couldn't kill him. He was fairly certain Mikan would be upset at him if he killed her uncle.
Maybe he could just maim him a little.
Mikan turned to glare at her uncle. "Tsubasa, I am a grown woman and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Go home." She said with a certain note of finality which left her uncle staring at her with his mouth hanging open and Natsume looking far more smug than he probably had a right to be. It was not like she was taking sides or anything, but the young red chose to believe that she had indirectly done so.
The girl in question dismissed both of them with an exasperated look before stalking up towards the beach. Natsume strolled casually after her while her idiot uncle floundered somewhat behind them. The red had not noticed before, but Tsubasa had a canvas drawstring sack tied off to his left leg that caused him to walk a little awkwardly through the water, so he removed it.
"Mikan, you are not supposed to be here. Mom and dad were livid when they heard you had run off to Japan."
"Yeah well you can just tell them I'll be home when I'm ready. Good bye." She told her uncle with a voice was both hostile while dripping with sugary sweetness. As if to prove her point about her unwillingness to leave, she plopped down on a blanket next to the Imai siblings and their mates.
Constantly aware of his role and image, Natsume strolled up after her and got the others to move back with a look so he could sit next to her. Anna bustled in quickly after with what she called her special star bentos which were larger than the others due to his rank. One would probably have been sufficient to feed both of them plus two other people, but because Mikan was his special guest, she got one of her own.
Mikan's uncle Tsubasa walked up to her cautiously. Natsume could see he was aware that he was roughly surrounded by air dragons, but he was persistent. "Mikan, can we go to talk about this privately?" He asked, switching to English. It wasn't until then that Natsume had noticed they had been speaking in Japanese for everyone else's benefit.
"There is nothing to discuss. I'm not going."
"Mikan, mom, dad and even Kazu were all threatening to come here and get you themselves. Even Tono said that he would come here and drag you home by your hair if you were not back by the time he finished his job."
Natsume could feel worry seep into Mikan's determination through the bond they shared. The truth was he felt a bit uneasy himself. Logically, he knew she would have to leave eventually. It was not safe for her to be near his clan and if he was wise about it, he would support her leaving Japan. But wisdom wasn't the voice he was listening to right now. He just wasn't ready to let her go. It was selfish of him but he wanted just a bit more time with her. She was his first and only obsession and he wanted his memories of her to be more than a casual acquaintance.
Natsume watched as Mikan still put on a brave face despite her worry, and smiled at her uncle.
"Gram and Gramps are in Scotland, Uncle Kazu is in Vancouver and Tono is… well… off on a job. I'll be fine for a few days." She said sweetly.
"Tono is in China and his job probably will not take that long." Tsubasa told her flatly, causing her to look less confident. The pair looked ready to argue, but they were interrupted.
"Hyuuga, there are two more sea dragons approaching." Hotaru said in her usual monotone causing both sea dragons to look in the direction of the water. Mikan shot her uncle a dark look and then gave Natsume an alarmed one. The red wondered what his look was for because he had been staying out of their little family dispute since he left the water.
"Tell me you didn't bring Sumire along." She pleaded. Tsubasa threw his hands out and gave her a helpless look that even Natsume could translate to 'You think I could stop her?'
Mikan gave Natsume another look and inside her feelings were churning and roiling. Natsume could recall this was the screaming voice on the phone, but what he did not understand was why Mikan did not want her here. He didn't get a chance to debate it long because two human heads appeared in the water.
Without a word, Mikan stood up and went back to the water's edge to wait for the newcomers.
As they emerged from the water, Natsume could tell they were both women and that both were vastly different from Mikan. Both women were quite attractive in their own way and moved with a bold, confident air that made Mikan's confidence appear timid and immature.
The first one was the kind of woman that men spotted in an instant. She was a woman who was fully in tune with her sensuality. Unlike most women, she did not shy away from it, she did not make apologies for it, and she knew how to use it to her best advantage. Her dark shoulder length hair was wet and plastered to her head but see the way the sunlight gave it a tinge of green that went along with her rather vivid green eyes. She was wearing a bikini top with a pair of shorts, and unlike Mikan she picked her suit without function in mind. Her top displayed her cleavage to its fullest and her shorts rode so low on her slim hips the top edge of her suit bottom was visible above the waistline. She strode out of the water with a catlike grace carrying a backpack much like Mikan's slung over one shoulder. Looking at her, the first word that popped into his head wasn't slut or easy, it was man-eater.
The other woman just behind her had shoulder length hair as well, although hers was light reddish and had an opalescent quality in the sun. She was dressed more like Mikan was when she had arrived in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, but that was where the similarity ended. She too, moved with a confident air, but it was not one of unabashed sensuality. This was a woman who was fearless. She had an air about her that practically screamed 'I am who I am, you wanna make something of it?' This was also a woman who did not make apologies, but for completely different reasons. The second woman stalked straight out of the water on a direct course for Tsubasa.
Mikan and Tsubasa stood at the edge of the water while Natsume with his people opted to wait a little further back. The second woman walked right up to Tsubasa and did not bother saying a word. Instead, she dropped her fist down hard on the top of his head. "What did you think you were doing changing directions on us without warning us first?" She yelled.
Natsume would not admit it out loud, but she was kind of scary. In a way she reminded him of his mother whenever she lost her temper.
"Ow! Misaki! That hurt! I had to change direction because I knew Mikan wasn't in Hokkaido like I thought." Tsubasa complained while rubbing his head.
Misaki ignored his excuses and gave Mikan a polite smile. "Mikan, good to see you are okay."
Mikan gave her a sickly smile. "To you as well, Misaki." At this point the other woman strode up and gave Mikan a disgusted look.
"Yeah well I'm not happy to see you! What the hell do you think you are doing making us come all the way here to get you?" she asked with her arms crossed under her breasts and her bare foot tapping in the sand. Like she did on the phone, this woman, Sumire, Natsume remembered correctly, brought out Mikan's temper.
"I didn't ask you to come" Mikan responded waspishly in Japanese to remind her family they were being rude by speaking in another language in front of strangers. "You are more than welcome to go home without me." The woman Sumire gave Mikan a surprised, slightly impressed look and then it changed to one of suspicion. Her eyes drifted past Mikan to take in Natsume and his people.
Natsume felt Sumire's gaze like it was tangible thing along with her instant interest in him. He resisted the urge to squirm under that appraising look.
"My, my, my, what have we here?" She asked to no one in general with a deeper, huskier tone. Without bothering to wait for an answer, the woman sashayed past Mikan towards Natsume. Her movements were all swaying hips and shoulders and as subtle as a sledgehammer. The woman could probably give the clan's concubines a run for their money. The strange woman walked right up to him stopping way closer than was appropriate for strangers and his personal comfort zone. If it would not have looked weak, he would have backed up to get some breathing room.
"Aren't you lovely?" she asked in that same husky voice. She did not actually bat her eyes at him, but they were loaded with promises and intent. Natsume saw her extend one index finger and he just knew she was planning on touching him, when another slim hand intercepted her by grabbing her wrist.
"Knock it off Permy." He heard Mikan growl at her. He rather liked the possessive tone in her voice. Permy? Natsume wondered then noticed the woman's wet hair wanted to hang in dripping ringlets.
Natsume returned the woman's bold look with a bland one of his own. Actually, he was a little surprised at his total lack of response to her. As a healthy male, he should at least be able to appreciate her on a basic sexual level, but he felt nothing. It was almost like he was standing next to a cardboard cutout. In some parallel universe, he was sure he would have eagerly taken her up on her on what she was so clearly offering, but in the here and now… sorry sweetheart, not interested.
His gaze slid off her easily and zeroed in on a very irritable looking Mikan. She's so cute when angry. His sea dragon had come up and wedged herself in the small space between Natsume and her cousin causing said cousin to look back and forth between Mikan and Natsume in surprise.
"Alright, you are here, you have seen me, you know I'm fine, now go home." Mikan told them abruptly, while subtly edging back from her cousin. Her movements forced Natsume who was standing right behind her to edge back as well thereby creating space between Natsume and Sumire. Natsume and Mikan were barely brushing against each other, but that combined with angry territorial vibes coming off of Mikan made Natsume's barely cooled blood heat up again. With her family here now was not the time to get all hot and bothered.
While Natsume was trying to calm his hormones, Tsubasa chose not to answer his niece. Instead, he gave her a look, walked over to where the blankets were laid out, and dropped to the sand next to them. A heartbeat later Misaki and Sumire followed his example. "No can do kiddo. As long as you are here, so are we." He said simply.
Natsume stayed standing next to Mikan, but most of his people took their actions as leave to return to their lunches and enjoy the free show.
"What? I do not need a babysitter!" She squawked.
Tsubasa rolled his eyes at her. "You might not be a baby, but you are not exactly an ordinary grown up either." That caused Natsume's brows to rise wondering what her uncle meant by that statement. Mikan apparently wondered as well.
"Just what do you mean by that?" the shrieked at him, causing the three newcomers to laugh.
"Mikan," Misaki began in the kind of slow tone one would use with a child or an idiot "I haven't known you as long as Sumire or Tsubasa, but even I know you are a trouble magnet.
"I am not!" Mikan demanded with a stamp of her foot into the sand. That caused the others to laugh again.
"Oh let's count shall we?" her cousin Sumire said in a sarcastic tone. "You've been shot at."
"The police said that was a gang thing. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Mikan said defensively.
Tsubasa then piped up "Abducted twice!"
"That wasn't my fault."
"Poisoned." Misaki added helpfully.
"That was an accident!"
"Oh don't forget that armed robbery." Added Sumire.
"You're blaming me for that now?"
"The point is Mikan; trouble follows you like a lost puppy. If I didn't know better, I would swear you were cursed." Tsubasa explained in a quiet voice, and then his expression changed. "Ah! That reminds me, I forgot the reason I knew you weren't in Hokkaido." He said and opened his drawstring sack.
Mikan gave the sack a wary look. For a moment Natsume was sure he saw the sack move. Is there something alive in that?
Looking a bit more worried, Mikan started to back away past Natsume nervously. "You didn't actually bring him did you? Sumire was one thing but please tell me you didn't bring Mr. Bear." she asked in a quavering voice, backing up a little faster.
Tusbasa stuck his arm into the sack and began pulling out a fairly large zipper locking bag. "Of course I had to bring him. He is the best way to find you." Natsume watched as Mikan's uncle fully extracted the clear plastic bag and saw what looked to be a teddy bear inside. "You know he was really upset when he found out that you had left him at home."
This time Natsume was at a loss. Was that Mikan's childhood teddy bear? What was the big deal with bringing it, other than for the embarrassment factor? It was clear he was missing something because once Mikan saw the bear, she took off at a dead run down the beach.
And then the freakiest thing of all the freaky, strange, and downright bizarre things that have happened in his magical life, happened.
The bear, of all things, jumped out of the bag on its own power and took off after her. Within seconds it had caught up to her tackled her to the sand and started pounding on her. The scene was so surreal that for a moment all Natsume and the others could do was stand there and stare.
Natsume's instincts snapped back quicker than his logic and registered that Mikan was in trouble and jogged over to help her. Really though, how much damage could a stuffed animal do?
"Ow, hey, ow! Mr. Bear, stop that! Ow, you knew I, ouch, couldn't take you! Ow!" Mikan yelled at the stuffed animal in between hits. Natsume shot a small arc of fire at it that of course, disappeared before it did any damage, but it did force the bear to turn and look at him.
The look in the bear's beady plastic eyes caused him to stumble a bit in the sand. What the hell is that thing? There was something real in that bear! It wasn't and illusion or a spell or anything, there was a genuine form of intelligence there! What's more is that he felt it tell him to mind his own business.
Natsume started to feel a bit more alarmed thinking Mikan might be in real danger from whatever creature was disguised as the teddy bear and sped up.
The sight of Mikan wrestling with a stuffed animal was still a little difficult for Natsume to process, but he ran up anyway, grabbed the thing by the back of the head and pulled it off her. That earned him a surprisingly hard kick from what should be a soft toy. It shocked him enough that he dropped it and it moved to attack Natsume. He tried to set fire to it, but nothing happened. Just what was this thing? The head he held felt like a stuffed bear, and the body was lightweight, but that hit felt like it had come from a very solid creature.
Mikan had gotten up by this time and had started to swirl her arms. With a flick of her wrist a small amount of sea water splashed it causing the thing to flop lifelessly to the ground.
By now some of the others had run up to see what was happening. Youichi was the most surprising because he walked up to the bear and looked devastated. "You killed it." He accused Mikan with big tears in his eyes.
Mikan, who looked a mess and was trying to rinse herself off with the section of ocean waves that she was controlling, gave the kid a surprise look. "Don't worry, he's fine. He just doesn't like water. It makes him weak. He will be fine when he dries out."
"Why did you hurt him?" the little silver still looked angry, but was clearly relieved the toy bear was okay.
Mikan gave him a tired look and squatted down near the wet stuffed animal. She motioned for Youichi to come closer, which he did reluctantly. She then looked at Natsume "Natsume, can I get a little heat please?"
Curious and completely confused, Natsume lit a fireball in his palm and knelt down next to her. Mikan must have somehow shut off her nullifying power, because his fire remained steady. He thought he was done with surprises, but he found that he was wrong when she put the bear in his fire. Youichi made a yell of protest, but it quickly died off when they all saw that nothing happened to it.
"Don't worry, fire can't hurt him." She said quickly. "This is my first friend, Mr. Bear. Mr. Bear, these are my new friends Natsume, and Youichi. Don't do anything bad to them." She said by way of warning and introduction.
"Can I play with Mr. Bear?" Youichi asked. His eyes were completely focused and mesmerized by the stuffed bear. Several other kids chimed in their begging and pleading to play too.
Mikan gave them and Mr. Bear an uneasy look. "Uh… I suppose…" she answered warily and upon hearing this, the bear tried to struggle out of her grip to get away from her. She quickly angled the bear to face towards her. "Alright, you play nice with them you hear? If I see even one tear caused by you I am going to have the ocean sweep you up into the deepest, darkest hole it can find and keep you there for the rest of your existence, get it?" she hissed in a quiet voice that only Natsume, Youichi, and the bear could hear.
The bear did not say anything but Natsume got the impression it understood the threat to be real. In a flash, the bear was off and running with a half a dozen children after it. It would probably be a good practice of their speed. He thought reasonably. Mikan wanted to watch over them, but Natsume pushed her in the direction of their waiting lunches. The rest of the adults that had gotten up had decided to return to their lunches as well. Hopefully the Imai's haven't stolen it all. He thought, noticing that the siblings were not among the people standing around.
He was starting to think her family was right about her being a trouble magnet. He had only known her for a few days and he had yet to have a plain, normal, uneventful day in that time. Yet even as he thought that, he had to admit he was enjoying himself. A few paces ahead of him he spied Luka and Aoi giving him matching smug looks.
'Figured it out yet little brother?'
What are you talking about?
'Oh I think you know.'
'Personally, I like your choice in mates big brother.' Aoi added to their private conversation.
She is not my mate. He told them somewhat testily. If the circumstances were different, he would be more than interested in the chance, but he was who he was. If he cared at all about her, he would tie her up and pack her off with her family. He was just too damn selfish.
"Yeah right.' His brother and sister mocked him. 'Natsume, it has been years since I have seen you lose your cool, or get mad, or even smile. Ever since Mikan showed up you have been doing all those. You are happy when she is around Natsume. Don't let the clan or the old man ruin it.' Luka said before turning away from him.
Natsume found himself stopping dead in the middle of the beach. It wasn't exactly a shocking revelation. The thought had been hovering on the edge of his awareness for a while now but this was the first time he truly acknowledged it.
Everything looked the same but he felt like the whole world just suddenly changed colors and shapes. A week ago he was ready to just let himself die on a mission, but now…
I'm happy.
Mikan who was walking next to him stopped and gave him a puzzled look. "Are you alright?" she asked, looking concerned.
Tingling warmth bubbled up inside of him threatening to come out in the shape of a large smile on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine." He answered in a rough voice.
I'm happy.
tbc
Awww Natsume is happy.
Okay so all of you who just knew it was going to be Tsubasa can take this opportunity to yell 'Yay Tubasa!'
…
Go on, I'll wait until you are done
…
All done?
So about Mikan being a trouble magnet thing. If you squint hard enough, you can place all of those events to her in the manga as well. Wow, she really is a trouble magnet.
Okay on to business. I have a rather immature plot bunny up for adoption. I like it, but it takes all my effort just to try and post one chapter a week of this story so a lot of my bunnies are dying off. Use it if you can, but don't force yourself.
The premise is The Black Mark. I got to thinking about cannon stories when the characters are older and I thought this is the same school that had alices like Narumi and Reo pass through as well as characters like Tono(manwhore) and Yukihira(who slept with a student). Then it suddenly hit me. With a school so bent on controlling the students, they would totally monitor them psychically.
Well to be more specific, it would be just like the academy to have a psychic mechanism to monitor all buildings and rooms with the exception of the teachers' quarters for sexual activity. If a student had sexual intercourse (lesser intimate contact is fine or you could be busted in the shower) in any monitored area, a black mark would appear on their student record.
Of course the school would feed a bogus line about how they are trying to "protect" the students from being taken advantage of by stronger alices. They could also claim they monitor for severe or fatal health problems with a red mark, but in the end, it is still a loss of privacy and a form of control. The worst part is that the whole faculty and thereby the whole school would know if a pair of students had actually "done it" within twenty-four hours.
I had clear images in my head of certain scenes
-When Tono was in high school, his record had so many black dots it looked like a Dalmatian. A fact he was quite proud of.-
-Natsume talking to Mikan "Stupid, don't you remember the warning we all got in health class? You can't have sex anywhere in the school without the whole school knowing."-
-Everyone knew by lunchtime the next day when XXX and XXX lost their virginity together. He was okay, but she was humiliated.-
Anyway like I said I like the concept, but I just don't know when or if I will ever get to use it. Maybe someone out there can use the idea or incorporate it into a story.
Please! Don't force yourself to use it! I just wanted to say if any of you can, feel free to use it.
Ta for now!